Real-time updates and new takes on important news stories

Urgun Diary: Car Bomb Devastates Afghan Town

Residents of Urgun, in eastern Afghanistan, survey the devastation Wednesday following Tuesday’s car bombing in a crowded market.

Habib Khan Totakhil/The Wall Street Journal

URGUN, Afghanistan – Following a car bombing Tuesday in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, I flew down to Urgun district, the scene of the attack, among the deadliest on civilians since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.

As an Afghan reporter, I have covered many incidents of violence, but few as destructive as this one. Wrecked vehicles were still visible near the site of the bombing. Dozens of small shops were demolished, and the windows of many nearby buildings were shattered.

Urgun locals sift through debris left by the car bombing. Video by Habib Khan Totakhil.

“It was worse than Doomsday,” said Habib Ullah Khan, a young man with a bandage on his head, who said he was working in his store when he heard the boom.

Local officials and eyewitnesses said women and children were among the dead.

The Afghan government has blamed the Haqqani network, a ruthless Taliban affiliate based in Pakistan’s tribal areas, for Tuesday’s bombing. “The attack was planned in North Waziristan by Haqqani Network and the SUV laden with explosives was sent from there,” said Mohammad Raza Kharotay, district governor of Urgun.

Some Urgun residents chant “Death to Pakistan” and “Death to the Taliban,” among other slogans. Video by Habib Khan Totakhil.

On Wednesday, some people were picking through the ruins of their stores to salvage goods.

“I lost four cousins in the blast,” said Javid Shah, standing in the ruins of his shop, with tears in his eyes. Mr. Shah then directed an insult at the Taliban, saying: “Israelis are better than them.” The Israeli government, never popular in Afghanistan, is particularly disliked here now because of its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Around a hundred angry residents of Urgun, some of whom claimed to have lost family members in the attack, staged a protest at the bombing scene, chanting among other slogans “Death to Pakistan” and “Death to the Taliban” and criticizing local administrative officials for not assisting them.